View full sizeFormer educator and school leader Rick Rhoades talks during the Pelham quarterly town hall meeting on Nov. 19, 2013, about his selection as one of five members of the new municipal school board. (Martin J. Reed / mreed@al.com)

PELHAM, Alabama -- Pelham's newly formed municipal school
board will hold its first meeting Dec. 4, following the City Council holding
a swearing-in ceremony for the five inaugural members the previous night.

The meeting that starts at 2 p.m. in the council
conference room at City Hall will involve organizational business for the new
board. Member Rick Rhoades said he expects the board to "kind of set the
agenda, set some priorities as to where we're going to head out to."

"We want to set a course and go from there," Rhoades said
in an interview today.

Joining Rhoades on the board are Paul Howell, Angie Hester,
Barbara Regan and Brian Long. The City Council took action Nov. 18 to pick
the five members for the board.

Howell said today the first meeting "is strictly going to
be organization" and involve selection of a president and vice president. The
board will also set times and dates for future meetings, he said.

"The other four board members I'm sure will have their
thoughts on it," Howell said about the meeting schedule, which will likely be
more than other school boards that meet once a month. "We would tend to meet
more frequently than that simply because of the creation of this organization."

Considering the board's scope of work involves
organization of the municipal school district separate from Shelby County's
system, Howell and Rhoades said the group will have plenty on its plate in the
coming months.

"I think we're all grasping at trying to get our hands
around the magnitude of this before us," Howell said. "But I can say I think
the other four board members -- including myself -- are all very excited and
looking forward to the challenges ahead of us."

The board is committed to "giving Pelham a very good
school system that's uniquely Pelham," Rhoades said. "We're all very excited
about the potential that's here ... but we also know that we have a lot of work
to do."

Howell said the Pelham board will be able to utilize help
from its neighbors in Alabaster who recently formed their own municipal school
district. "I think the fact that Alabaster has done such a good job in the
creation of their school system and Alabaster has made it known they are
willing to help and discuss in any aspect" will benefit Pelham, he said.

The Alabama Association of School Boards is also ready to
help Pelham, Howell said. "There's a great deal of support to help us out
there," he said.